It Couldn’t Looker Finer for 49ers

For the first time in his four seasons at Long Beach State, Coach Wayne Morgan didn’t spend the off-season pounding his system into his players’ heads. That’s because he finally had more players returning than leaving.

And that core has some talent in it--enough so that the 49ers are the clear favorites in the Big West Conference’s Western Division, picking up nine of 12 first-place votes in the coaches’ poll.

Morgan welcomes back his top eight scorers, including all five starters and two all-conference picks, from a team that was 13-15 last season, 9-7 in the Big West.

But after going 36-48 in three retooling years at Long Beach, Morgan knows he can’t take anything for granted.

“None of the preseason polls matter, only the postseason polls matter,” he said. “All of those coaches have high expectations for us.

“But if you polled them and said, ‘Since it’s a done deal and Long Beach is going to win it, why don’t you send in all the losses and just give them the trophy,’ I’m sure they’d all say, ‘No. I want to play those games, I think I’ve got a chance.’ Everybody in this conference has a chance.”

But only Long Beach has Ramel Lloyd.

Lloyd is the conference’s No. 2 returning scorer. He averaged 18 points, and at 6 feet 4 and 225 pounds, is one of the league’s biggest and strongest guards.

But it’s the prospect of sharing the scoring with his teammates in Morgan’s faster-paced offense that the junior is most excited about.

“The thing that will make us good is, opposing teams can’t focus on one or two players,” said Lloyd, a transfer from Syracuse. “Any night, any one of us can give a large number of points and have a good game.”

Like Lloyd, senior center Mate Milisa also was a second-team All-Big West pick last season.

He averaged 13.9 points, second on the team, and led Long Beach State in rebounding at 5.6 per game. This season, Milisa’s biggest improvement needs to come from the leadership end.

“What everybody told me after last year was to be more vocal and not just be a leader by example,” he said.

Aside from Milisa and Lloyd, Morgan hasn’t settled on a starting lineup yet.

Most likely, 6-9 junior college transfer James Williams will start at one forward, with 6-7 senior Antrone Lee, the team leader in blocks last season, at small forward.

The point guard is the biggest question mark, with incumbent Charles O’Neal and sophomore Ron Johnson battling for time.

But with this team, being a starter may not mean a whole lot in terms of playing time.

With the up-tempo style (Long Beach State scored 111 points in its first exhibition game), a lot of bodies are going to be needed.

Senior D’Cean Bryant, the only remaining link to the Seth Greenberg era, earned his degree over the summer and regained the year of eligibility he lost from Prop. 48. He is probably the most athletic 49er and has both an inside and outside game. Junior college transfer Keith Felton has been Morgan’s most pleasant surprise at guard. Forward Grant Stone will also get plenty of playing time.

But with all the talent and depth, Morgan is not without concerns.

“Defense and rebounding,” he said of two areas that need improving. “We’ll score points. When we play teams that are good teams or when we play teams that are having good nights, you have to be able to stop them.”

Defensive problems were evident in the exhibition opener, as the 49ers surrendered 93 points to Team Fokus.

What’s more, forward Richie Smalls, who started 14 games last season, will be sidelined at least until January after suffering a knee injury a week before the start of practice. This will cause players such as Lloyd and O’Neal to play out of position at times.

But if there is any season when Morgan could afford a loss to injury, this is it. With his best team yet at Long Beach, Morgan remains cautious but knows what’s possible.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Long Beach State at a Glance

*--*

Date Opponent, Time Nov. 20 at Pepperdine, 2 p.m. Nov. 23 CS DOMINGUEZ HILLS, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, 2 p.m. Dec. 3 # St. Josephs (Pa.), 3 p.m. Dec. 4 # Syracuse/Richmond, 3/5 p.m. Dec. 8 at Air Force, 6 p.m. Dec. 16 USC, 9 p.m. Dec. 18 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 22 CS MONTEREY BAY, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29 ALBANY, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 4 at Kansas State, 5 p.m. Jan. 13 * at Idaho, 7 p.m. Jan. 15 * at Boise State, 6:30 p.m. Jan. 20 * NEW MEXICO STATE, 9 p.m. Jan. 22 * NORTH TEXAS, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 * CAL POLY SLO, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 * UC SANTA BARBARA, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 3 * at UC Irvine, 7 p.m. Feb. 5 * at Cal State Fullerton, 7 p.m. Feb. 10 * PACIFIC, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 * UTAH STATE, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 * at Pacific, 7 p.m. Feb. 19 * at Nevada, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 * CAL STATE FULLERTON, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 * UC IRVINE, 7:30 p.m. March 2 at UC Santa Barbara, 7 p.m. March 4 at Cal Poly SLO, 7 p.m. March 9 Big West Tournament, TBA March 10 Big West Tournament, TBA March 11 Big West Tournament, TBA

*--*

Home Games in ALL CAPS

# Syracuse Carrier Classic at NY (Syracuse, St. Joseph’s (Pa.), Richmond, Long Beach State); * Denotes Big West Conference games; Big West Tournament at Reno, Nev.

LONG BEACH ROSTER

*--*

No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Year 0 Ron Johnson G 6-1 190 So. 1 Antrone Lee G/F 6-7 195 Sr. 4 D’Cean Bryant F 6-6 215 Sr. 10 Keith Felton G 5-10 160 Jr. 13 Mate Milisa C 6-11 225 Sr. 14 Charles O’Neal G 6-3 190 Sr. 15 Grant Stone F 6-8 220 Jr. 21 Brad Smith G 6-4 200 Jr. 22 Ramel Lloyd G 6-4 225 Jr. 31 # Travis Reed F 6-8 240 Jr. 32 Richie Smalls F 6-8 205 Sr. 33 Danny Horan F 6-8 210 Fr. 44 Rory Clark F 6-7 225 Jr. 50 James Williams F 6-9 225 Jr.

*--*